Amy Fisher, 'Long Island Lolita,' granted parole

NEW YORK (CNN) -- A New York State parole board granted
parole on Thursday for Amy Fisher, dubbed the "Long Island
Lolita," who pleaded guilty to shooting her lover's wife in
the head.

Fisher, now 24, spent seven years in prison. She could be
released as early as next week.

She received a five-to-15-year prison sentence in 1992 after
pleading guilty to first-degree assault for shooting Mary Jo
Buttafuoco, then 37, in a jealous rage when Buttafuoco opened
the door of her Long Island home.

Fisher, who was 16 at the time of the shooting, said she had
been involved in a relationship with the victim's husband,
Joey Buttafuoco. He spent six months in jail for statutory
rape as a result of the affair.

The Buttafuocos moved from Long Island to Los Angeles where
Joey is a cable TV talk show host.

Fisher was dubbed the "Long Island Lolita" by the New York
City tabloids, a reference to the Vladimir Nabokov novel
about a middle-aged man's obsession with a 12-year-old girl.
The case attracted national attention and was the subject of
several made-for-television movies.

The three-member state parole board, which refused to parole
Fisher in 1997, voted 2-to-1 to release Fisher, according to
a spokesperson for the state Division of Parole.

Fisher went before the panel Tuesday at the Albion
Correctional Facility in western New York where she's been
serving out her sentence.

Buttafuoco, who attended the hearing, told the judge she
forgave Fisher.

Afterward, state Supreme Court Judge Ira Wexner threw out
Fisher's 1992 guilty plea and sentenced her to a shorter
prison term, clearing the way for her release, with parole
board approval. Fisher had argued she was denied effective
legal counsel when she initially pleaded guilty.